


I Don't Need You To Surrender

by Snow



Category: Party Animals (TV)
Genre: 2010 UK Election, Ashika being awesome, British Politics, Community: ladiesbigbang, Don't Need to Know Canon, F/M, Female Character of Color, Female Friendship, Post-Canon, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-16
Updated: 2010-09-16
Packaged: 2017-10-11 21:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/117317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow/pseuds/Snow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashika Chandiramani was elected as a Conservative Member of Parliament in the last election. This is how she reacts, grows and makes her way in the world of British politics. Featuring the handling of constituency matters, dealing with family and the support structure that helps Ashika survive it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Don't Need You To Surrender

**Author's Note:**

> Many, many thanks to my beta [](http://calleigh-j.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**calleigh_j**](http://calleigh-j.dreamwidth.org/) and to [](http://hammerxsword.dreamwidth.org/profile)[**hammerxsword**](http://hammerxsword.dreamwidth.org/) for the awesome complement of a truly lovely vid, found [here](http://hammerxsword.dreamwidth.org/42041.html).

Ashika released the deep breath she'd just taken as the line moved once again. This time she was in front of the man who would start the process of her being sworn in as an MP.

"Welcome," he said, and she wondered if he was ever wrong about who was a new MP and who was returning. She wondered if she was supposed to know his name. "Do you want to start by giving your name and constituency for the benefit of the cameras?"

Ashika nodded, knowing that he had another question to ask before she would actually do so. She'd been keeping the television with the other MPs being sworn in as background noise since the ceremony began.

"Do you wish to swear or affirm?" he asked.

"Swear," Ashika said, and nodded at the bible he offered her. She placed her hand on it and read the oath off the sheet he held. "Ashika Chandiramani, Keighley. I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law, so help me God."

"My colleague will show you the Test Roll you're to sign," the man said, and Ashika was on her way.

She shook hands with the Speaker and it wasn't that it suddenly all seemed real, because Ashika had known it to be real from the moment she stood on the stage as the vote count was read, but that it all seemed _right_. Ashika was a member of parliament, a Tory and a member of a coalition government with the Lib Dems, and all she could think was _yes_.

She'd talked with a number of her Conservative colleagues that she'd seen earlier, before the election and after, while coalition talks were being undertaken. She didn't really have much to say to them yet, and beyond well-intentioned and, for the most part, unnecessary advice from those who were returning to parliament, they didn't have much to say to her.

So it was with a carefully friendly smile that she turned to one of the Lib Dem politicians who had been sworn in shortly after Ashika and introduced herself.

"Jenny Cullen," the woman replied with a strong Scottish burr, looking a little startled.

"I figured it probably wouldn't hurt for me to introduce myself," Ashika confided and could see by the answering look that Jenny thought her a bit naive.

"You're new," Jenny said.

Ashika shrugged. "Rather a lot of us are, yes. I have worked in Westminster for a couple of years."

Ashika thought Jenny was trying to place her, a theory which was confirmed when Jenny raised her eyebrows. "James Northcote?" she asked.

Ashika smiled, refusing to look, or be, shamed. "Got it in one," she said.

Jenny shrugged, looking a little abashed, like she thought she was generally better than following gossip about what happened within Tory offices, or that she hadn't meant to reference a sex scandal, these things just _happened_.

"I'm rather enjoying seeing things from this side, though," Ashika said, throwing the woman a bone because she was bored and wasn't actually a fan of awkward silence. "It's not really that new, but it _feels_ different."

Jenny smiled. "I ran a Westminster office myself for two and a half years," she said. "None of what I did there really prepared me to have my own constituency."

"You ever regret running?" Ashika asked.

Jenny laughed, or let her shoulders shake in a silent imitation of a laugh. "I think you already know the answer," she said, "but it's no. Never."

* * *

Ashika hadn't known enough about how _new_ MPs were treated to have been surprised when she was given her office, but apparently she should have been. She didn't have any idea why she was one of the fifty or so new MPs to have an office right away; Ashika suspected they were just assigned randomly, or based on how much mail the constituents sent the first week. She certainly felt like she was buried in it.

However it had come about, she had an office complete with the degree of privacy that gave her. It wasn't much: having an office meant she was much more accessible to anyone who wanted to specifically petition her for things, even as they were less likely to run into her randomly. Ashika still wasn't sure how the people who didn't have offices sorted yet could possibly cope.

* * *

Answering constituency mail was nothing new for Ashika, though the facts that the letters were addressed to her and she signed her own name at the bottom were. Mostly she was focussed on contact from the media, but she did think it useful to glance through the rest of her mail to make sure she didn't miss anything important or urgent.

She'd hired a couple of people for her constituency office already, but Ashika needed to figure out soon if she was going to poach anyone away from her constituency to work here in Westminster or if she thought Matt would laugh at her or accuse her of misusing his friendship if Ashika asked him. She probably needed to have started thinking about these decisions a week ago, but there was the whole Matt issue.

Ashika had talked to him three times since the election, but she still hadn't been able to bring herself to ask what his plans were for this parliamentary session. Every time she started it felt like she was gloating. Which was ridiculous, because even if she assumed that Matt wanted to run for office, he wasn't ready for it yet, and they had _never_ been equals.

Still, she was just a backbench MP. While Ashika wanted to move onto the front benches at some point, she knew it wouldn't be yet. Even if he managed her office, Ashika was a step down from the researcher position Matt had working for a senior MP.

* * *

Having discovered that she had more in common with Jenny than the fact that they had both worked in Westminster before being elected, Ashika had chosen to sit next to her once they headed back to the House of Commons after the Queen's Speech. Ashika was now rapidly discovering that one thing she decidedly did not have in common with Jenny was a sense of humour, but the smile the Prime Minister had tossed at the Conservative backbenchers who bordered the Lib Dems still made this a good spot.

"It still seems a bit odd," Jenny said during one of the times when they were meant to be making derisive noises because someone from Labour was speaking. Jenny's definition of derisive noises was not one she shared with most people, but Ashika supposed it worked. Plus, Ashika thought it discomfited those Labour MPs who kept glancing at the Government benches to see everyone getting along so well.

"Never expected to be in Government?" Ashika asked.

"Yeah, not really," Jenny replied, then they both lapsed into silence.

Ashika leaned back and watched Jenny's face while a Labour MP accused the Liberal Democrat candidate who had run against him of using anti-Semitism in his campaign. When Ashika realised that Jenny wasn't listening to the Labour MP's speech, Ashika scanned the absurdly over-crowded benches of the Opposition. The Government's benches were even more crowded; the House of Commons had a couple of hundred seats too few for days like this, when nearly everyone was here, but they weren't as easy to watch, nor as interesting at the moment. In general Ashika thought rather the opposite would be true.

* * *

"Done with work?" Scott asked when Ashika walked in the door to the apartment they shared.

"Ha ha," she said with as little emotion as possible, because for a continuing joke this one fell a little flat. She was already tired of it. Still, Scott did hand her a cup of coffee, so it was easy enough to find a smile for him.

"Aren't you supposed to have staff?" Scott asked.

"I do," Ashika replied, because sometimes she felt that half her problems were caused by the fact that she had to spend time delegating instead of doing, and sometimes her staff didn't _listen_ to her the way they should. And yes, she'd had a closer relationship with James than any of her staffers would have with her, which was clearly for the best, but there wasn't actually a connection between that and job performance, or more MPs would be shagging their staffers.

"Isn't it in their job description that they have to cut down on their sleep so you can still work normal hours?" Scott asked. "That's what Danny always claimed."

"I hate to tell you," Ashika said, sipping the coffee only to find it was still not yet cool enough to drink, "But I think Danny lied to you. I can't see that kind of contract being approved."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Scott muttered.

Ashika blew on the coffee in the hopes that it would be drinkable soon. "Shouldn't his hours be dramatically down, now that he's working for an opposition backbencher?"

"You know Danny," Scott said, and it was a clear no.

"Not really," Ashika said, deciding that burning her tongue was worth it for the delicious taste of strong coffee.

Scott glanced at her and made a humming noise. "You could get to know him better. If you're okay with that."

Ashika wasn't ever going to forgive Danny for ruining her first chance at elected office, but that didn't preclude her from being civil. After all, James was even more at fault and Ashika still put a smile on her face every time she passed him in the halls. She also had no problem looking herself in the mirror in the morning. "Yeah, that'd be fine," she said.

Scott was busy looking thoughtful, so Ashika took another sip of her coffee. She started to feel guilty for the time she'd stood in the entry, instead of moving on with work, until she scolded herself. She could take twenty minutes. Hell, she could take an hour if she wanted to. Or even the whole evening off, though Ashika felt the burden of her position too much to actually want to do that. She was sure that at some point she'd back off with her work and delegate more, but at the moment every letter she wrote to a constituent made her feel like she was accomplishing something, every interview she gave made her feel like she was someone whose opinions mattered.

"Perhaps we'll invite him and his boyfriend 'round," Scott suggested. Ashika frowned at him. "If that wouldn't be a problem," he hastily added.

Ashika would laugh if it weren't for the fact that it wasn't actually remotely funny that Scott still thought she must be socially regressive just because she was a Tory. She also wasn't very happy that he was willing to so easily set aside his brother's comfort in favour of hers. It made her feel uncomfortable for a reason she couldn't quite define. "It's not a problem," she said. "I just thought you said your fight with him was over a girl."

"Oh, it was," Scott said.

Ashika lifted her eyebrows, but no explanation was forthcoming.

* * *

Work fell into a rhythm by the Tuesday after Ashika had been sworn in, though Ashika doubted the rhythm would last for long. The minister's offices were likely overflowing with activity and that hectic action would spread to the floor when debates started up in the chamber. She attended a few meetings, some led by the Chief Whip, some by long-term backbenchers, where it was explained what would be expected of her, and none of it seemed terribly unreasonable. She focused mostly on getting to know her constituents, and having her constituents know her. It was relatively easy work, since a number of the people working in her constituency knew more about that side of work than she did.

She still badly needed to hire someone to be in charge of her Westminster office, but for now she was handling the work on her own. The e-mail Ashika had sent Matt asking what he was doing was answered, but not concretely.

He had been non-specific when she'd asked if he was enjoying his current work. He had said that he wasn't really all that busy at the moment, if she'd like to do lunch or dinner. Ashika sighed and sent back a quick response that said she'd love to, but things weren't settled enough for her to commit to things much in the future just now, as she was sure he could understand. She did, after all, still have to make time for some dinner with Scott's brother and his boyfriend at some point soon. Fortunately Scott had offered to cook for that, so all she really needed to do was show up and be polite to someone she didn't have any reason to like. Ashika thought she'd gotten quite good at that over the last couple weeks.

After she sent the e-mail her thoughts were interrupted by James Northcote. He seemed to want to make sure that she hadn't changed her mind and decided to...Ashika didn't know what. Talk to his wife or rekindle the affair, perhaps, though she'd promised she wasn't considering doing either.

"Ashika," he said. "I was just wondering how you were settling in."

"I'm good," she said. This all would have been easier if he'd either stepped down before the election or if his constituents had decided they were done with him, but Ashika supposed that if she was going to be grateful that their affair hadn't killed her career she could grant that it didn't have to kill his either. The world didn't actually seem inclined to make things easier on her.

"If there's anything I can do to help, I'd be happy to, I'm sure you know," he said.

Ashika smiled. "I'd let you know if anything came up, of course." She was lying through her teeth, and he knew it. Remarkably it seemed to do the trick better than yelling at him would have. James retreated with a hurt look. Ashika didn't wait for him to go before returning to the work she was doing for her research.

* * *

"Does Saturday work for dinner?" Scott asked, and it took Ashika a moment to think through her schedule. It was a whole three days away, and there was so much time and work between now and then.

"I'll be in the constituency on the weekends," she said, into the phone, as soon as her brain had had a chance to process that he'd said _Saturday_.

"Oh," Scott said, and Ashika was sure she'd mentioned that, but maybe it had slipped her mind, and maybe she had just assumed that he would know that.

"Danny said Tuesday also worked."

Ashika brought up her schedule on her computer. "Tuesday's great," she said, adding dinner to her calendar and giving it a middle level of priority in the program. Ashika had always been good at prioritising, but she'd become simply brilliant at it since starting work as an MP. She had to be.

"Great," Scott said. "Love you."

"Love," Ashika muttered into the phone, already thinking about her next meeting.

* * *

Ashika had grown fond of Keighley in her time campaigning there, though she wasn't all that fond of the three hour train journey. Mostly she wanted to sit and feel the train move around her, but Ashika forced herself to prepare the short speech for the opening of a restaurant that she'd been invited to attend and to answer the variety of questions her constituents would have.

Ashika had heard a couple of MPs refer to visits to the constituency as a chance to unwind a bit, but Ashika was well aware of the fact that she was still an unknown quantity to many of the people who lived in Keighley, which was quite unacceptable. She didn't have a husband she could task with getting to know the people of Keighley and making them feel they knew her - she'd tried asking Scott about that during the election, but he'd just laughed at her and threatened to campaign for the Labour candidate again - which meant she had to be visible and friendly.

She didn't begrudge the work, and it wasn't like it was hard, it was just that she felt exhausted and she hadn't even arrived yet.

* * *

The restaurant opening went well; Ashika quite hoped that it lasted long enough for her to enjoy many meals there. She didn't phrase her comment to the owner, Caitlin Iverson quite like that, opting for something more optimistic and friendly.

"I'm glad you could make it," Caitlin said. Ashika was posing next to her for a photo that would be good for publicity for both of them.

"Me too," she said. "This place looks really lovely. I'm looking forward to tasting the food."

"You say that now," Caitlin said, and they both laughed as the final picture was taken.

* * *

Ashika didn't let herself sleep on the train ride back Sunday night, even though she could have. It wasn't like she had lots of work to do. She didn't, however, want to start the habit of sleeping on the train. She had the impression that it would be rather a hard one to break.

She did let herself relax enough to read a fiction book, which meant that she would up not paying enough attention to it to pick up much other than the fact that it took place in some kind of alternate London. Ashika couldn't help but find it amusing that the simple act of reading a book was enough of a luxury; it didn't particularly matter what the book was about.

* * *

As much as Ashika found the woman rather condescending, Madelaine was still inordinately fond of Ashika. Ashika did owe a good deal of her political recovery to the fact that Madelaine had hired her after she'd left James' office, so Ashika viewed the fact that Madelaine had asked for them to have lunch together every Monday as part burden and part a chance for relaxation.

"How are you holding up, dear?" Madelaine asked as she took a bite of her salad. It was probably because Ashika hadn't said anything, but the only thing Ashika really wanted to ask was a question about how Madelaine felt about having her job effectively taken by a Lib Dem. Ashika knew better than to actually ask it.

"I'm fine," Ashika said. "Does Parliament really have such a high death rate as all that?"

"Hmm?" Madelaine asked.

"It seems that half the people I talk to expect me to have expired during the first week," Ashika explained.

Madelaine laughed. "No, it's not as bad as that. I'm sure they're just trying to look out for you. We do remember how overwhelming it all was when we started."

"I'm not overwhelmed," Ashika said.

"Then you're a stronger woman than I was when I first entered politics," Madelaine said, and Ashika really had no idea how to reply to _that_. She thought agreeing would probably not be polite behaviour, even if it was the only honest response.

"Things have also changed a bit in recent years."

Madelaine smiled at her. "Not as much as all that. It's still scary."

Ashika decided to take the easy way out of this conversation. "I wouldn't say I'm not scared," she said, "just not overwhelmed."

* * *

"Please tell me that you don't think I'm breakable," Ashika said, deciding that a sanity call to Matt was fully merited.

"You're what?" Matt asked.

"Breakable," Ashika repeated. "Fragile. Unable to handle being a politician."

Matt laughed at her, and that was really all the reassurance she needed. Still, his laugh wasn't as strong as she had expected it to be.

"What's wrong?" Ashika asked.

"Nothing," he said.

" _Matt_ ," Ashika said, wishing she'd found time in her schedule to have lunch with him, because now she couldn't see his face. Matt was an expert at making his voice sound like he wanted it to sound, except when he forgot, which he wouldn't do again so soon.

"It's not your problem," Matt replied, and Ashika ran over what she'd done recently that would have made him mad at her.

"Whatever it is, I'm sorry," she said. She was pretty sure she hadn't forgotten his birthday, but there were any of a dozen other slights she wouldn't have noticed, since they had been talking less. "I've just been a little over my head, and I still haven't found a researcher for my Westminster office."

"You haven't?" he asked.

"No," Ashika said. "I would have asked you, but it's not actually fair to you. The thing is, I keep holding the candidates against you, and they don't compare."

"I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me," Matt said.

Ashika took her mobile away from her ear for a second to check the number and make sure it was still Matt on the line.

"Of course I'll do it," he continued.

"You really don't have to," she said, because she hadn't meant to guilt him into taking the position.

"I don't," he agreed. "But as a team, we're basically unstoppable. Don't you want to let me make you brilliant?"

The computer screen in front of Ashika blinked with a new e-mail. It was from Matt, subject: My CV. "You've been waiting for me to ask you," Ashika said.

"I thought I remembered you catching on faster," Matt said.

* * *

Matt agreed to start the middle of next week before hanging up with a muttered, "I suppose I should tell you," that Ashika was sure she had been meant to hear, followed by an, " I suppose we'll talk about it later, though."

Ashika supposed that this was her punishment for not asking him immediately to manage her office but she refused to let Matt know that she was curious.

In the meantime she had more constituent concerns to answer, the party briefings to read, MPs to meet and make sure they remembered having met her, other MPs to listen to and nod when they told her they wanted to chair one of the select committees, a lobbyist or two to fend off, a journalist to convince to interview her, and a couple people to interview for an intern position. Ashika thought she was managing rather well, but she thought she'd have to work not to show Matt that she was overly grateful for his help when he joined her.

* * *

Ashika was already sipping at the coffee Scott had handed her by the time he spoke, and her gratitude for the caffeine was what kept her from snapping at him.

"I'd recommend that we not speak about politics at dinner tomorrow," Scott said, "But I'm not sure that would leave anything in common."

Ashika frowned at him.

"When was the last time you turned on the television to watch anything but the news," Scott asked her, "or analysis of the news?"

Ashika took a gulp of her coffee in lieu of answering, because she was all too aware of the point he had.

"For Danny it's probably been well over two years," Scott said, and Ashika knew that she shouldn't have been expecting him to attack her, but she had been. Even though she knew he knew better.

"I'm sure we can all talk and get along fine, even if politics come up," Ashika said.

"I've told Danny to behave himself, though I think he's likely mellowed quite a bit since you last encountered him," Scott replied. "And if nothing else, at least it will be an even fight. "

Ashika raised an eyebrow.

"His boyfriend's fairly strongly Tory," Scott explained.

* * *

"Isn't it wonderful?" Jenny said, dropping by Ashika's office early Tuesday morning.

Ashika turned with a curious smile. "Good morning," she said. "Power gone to your head already?"

Jenny laughed, and Ashika found herself wishing she had a laugh that sounded as carefree as Jenny's did when she wasn't trying to suppress it. "Not quite. Though apparently our friendship has been noted."

Ashika wasn't sure what that meant, but since the coalition was still so fragile she thought it had to be a good thing.

"Would you care to appear on a radio show with me on Thursday?" Jenny asked.

"Depends on which show and what topic," Ashika said.

"Radio Four's Woman's Hour. And officially it's representation of women in the current parliamentary session. Though in likelihood we'll probably get a couple of really dumb questions about whether we feel we represent our constituents better or worse because we're female and the rest will be about if we think David Laws should have resigned and if we think this spells the death of the coalition." Ashika thought Jenny didn't seem very sure that it _didn't_. "Our appearance probably won't draw much attention unless you mess up and say something stupid."

"Oh thanks," Ashika said.

"I'm just telling it like I see it," Jenny said, ending the conversation as cheerily as she'd started it.

* * *

Ashika spent Tuesday dealing with emergencies and meeting with other Conservative MPs. She'd met some, though by no means all, of them before, and she planned which events she attended and where she went to lunch based on where she might meet new people. She'd need them, because Ashika would be a brilliant constituency MP, but it was never her plan to sit on the backbenches longer than she had to.

The day was less tedious than she'd expected it to be, and Ashika introduced herself to ten more MPs, all but one of whom were amenable to talking to her. The tenth looked at her and sneered something about the symbolic rebranding of the party, at which point Ashika made a polite excuse, cut her losses, and left.

For the most part, though, the new MPs were happy to find five minutes to speak to her, and those who had been along longer were happy to give her advice about how to keep the Whip happy, how to position herself in the House so she'd show up more on the cameras, how to write a decent speech, and how to optimise the time she spent in her constituency.

She'd arranged her day so she would be done by six and for the first time since the elections she didn't let herself be caught past when she'd intended to stay.

* * *

Scott greeted her at the door with a gentle kiss and a glass of wine. "Danny and his boyfriend should be around fifteen minutes," he said, "But if you're hungry I can-"

"I'm not." Ashika smiled. "But thanks."

"Thanks for doing this," he said.

Ashika couldn't resist a laugh. "Wait to thank me until after you know whether or not I behaved myself."

Scott ignored her crack in favour of giving her another kiss which turned into a couple more. It soon became heavier than either of them really wanted at the moment, and they separated. "Because politicians are known for their inability to behave diplomatically."

She looked seriously at him. "Some of them definitely are."

"You're never going to be one of those."

"I nearly was, but I managed to salvage it, so now I'm something more. But not by much."

"You sure you don't want anything to eat?"

It was Scott through and through, but Ashika couldn't really blame him for not particularly wanting to talk about the man who was effectively her ex. She declined again, but did agree to change the subject as they waited.

They were talking about his day at work, since Scott had assured her that there was no threat of repetition; Danny wouldn't have any desire to hear it. Ashika heard the door open, then close again. A second later the doorbell rang. She stifled a laugh, because she was pretty sure Scott hadn't heard the sound of Danny remembering he shouldn't just drop into his brother's home.

"Shall we?" Scott asked, and Ashika followed him to the door.

He opened it, and Ashika blinked at the man who was standing behind Danny. "Matt." In the half minute between recognising him and speaking she had discarded dozens of options in favour of his name and the hug she gave him now. "We haven't seen each other enough recently." She knew that giving him the easy out would make him feel guiltier.

Matt, though, looked cheeky rather than guilty. "I don't suppose you'll buy 'I had no idea'?"

"Yeah, not really." Ashika could feel Scott's eyes on her, as he tried to figure out if they were actually angry at each other. Ashika shot a glance at Danny, who flat out looked concerned.

"How about 'I thought it would be funny'?"

Ashika pretended to consider it. "I can definitely see that." She hugged Matt again. "How serious?" she whispered in his ear, thinking it was an answer he could give easier than if she'd asked him how long they'd been together. Matt had always tried very hard to give the impression that he didn't _do_ dinners with families.

He scoffed as they separated, which Ashika took to mean it was quite serious. At least it did when combined with the smirk Danny was now wearing. Ashika wondered if the collaboration was as clear to Scott as it was to her. He still looked a bit confused, but when she extended her smile to him he relaxed.

"So now we've introductions taken care of," Matt said brightly. "Though it's possible you don't remember me," he continued to Scott.

"I do," Scott said, then, for reasons Ashika didn't understand, "Thank you."

Matt shrugged off the gratitude without explanation. "Danny mentioned that you're a passable cook."

Scott frowned. "I am so much more than passable," he muttered.

* * *

Scott was clearly bursting with questions for Danny that he didn't think he should ask. He was probably right. Still, it made the questions he did ask a little flat.

Ashika figured she could get away with some things he couldn't, if simply because her relationship with Matt was nothing like Scott's studied relationship with Danny. "How'd you two meet?" she asked.

"The library." Danny spoke in a tone that would not permit her to ask for more details.

"Long ago?"

Matt shrugged. "Long enough that it's a little odd I haven't mentioned it to you. But not so long that I've ever lied when you asked if I've met anyone."

Ashika considered that, but it was more of a non-answer than Danny's, given that Matt tended to answer questions about if he'd met anyone with the statement that he'd met loads of people, but only a couple of them were remotely interesting. Still, she could read well enough where they were emotionally: further than Matt had ever expected them to go and not as far as he thought now he wanted to go.

"What are you up to these days?" she asked Danny. It wasn't necessarily as polite as it could be, but nor was it a dig at the fact that he was now in Opposition, nor a question about if he'd sabotaged anyone else's campaign recently.

"The usual," he said. "And you're doing well?"

She inclined her head. "I am. I'd be doing better if I wasn't one of over a hundred brand-new MPs, but I'm doing fine."

"I'm sorry," Danny said, and to her surprise it seemed that he actually was.

Ashika shrugged. "You should be."

"How's being an MP?" Matt asked.

"How do you think?" Ashika asked. "It's wonderful. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who thinks sleeping is overrated and has always had the desire to spend time with people who are angry at the world and think you can fix it for them."

Danny snorted. "You don't need to be elected for that to be the case."

"Perhaps not," Ashika said. "But I doubt you've ever been asked to make sure the Prime Minister hears about the recent increase in alien invasions."

Matt laughed. "I hope you're not serious."

Ashika shrugged. "Maybe if you'd been working for me then you might have been able to take that call. As it was they had to leave a message."

"Ah, if only. In the future I promise any such calls will make it to you promptly and without delay so you can properly address the concerns of your constituents and make sure that the Prime Minister hears about them immediately."

"Yes, that way I can mention it to him in the numerous private meetings we have together." Ashika collapsed into laughter, and Matt quickly followed her. Danny was quick to follow, and Ashika could tell that Scott was having to make an extra effort so he could keep a straight face.

* * *

"I just want to make sure I have this right," Scott said. They were in the kitchen; he'd excused himself to serve dessert and she had followed, less to help him and more so they would have a chance to speak privately. "Matt worked for you?"

"He will," Ashika said. "As my researcher. Before, he worked for James with me."

"What's he doing right now?" Scott dribbled chocolate syrup over the cake.

"Working for someone more important than me," Ashika said. "Yes, he's effectively moving downward, but he claims it's worth it for the improvement in work environment. Personally, I just think he's planning to ride my coattails to power." She leaned over to steal a strawberry from the dish he was taking them from for the cake.

"Hey, that's my plan," Scott said.

Ashika considered him. "Have you had any more thoughts on what you want to do?" She knew Scott still wasn't terribly happy as a lobbyist, but he couldn't think of anything he'd rather do. He pointedly resisted any suggestions from her that he might like going into actual politics, making the argument that there were enough Fosters in the field already, and that he didn't really want to do anything that would make politics come between them again. He'd paused long enough that Ashika knew the answer to her first question was no. "Still don't want to be the next Ed Milliband to Danny's David?"

"Ha," Scott said, then, "dessert's ready. Help me carry?"

"Maybe you should open a bakery," Ashika suggested as they re-entered the dining room.

"I like that idea," Matt said.

"I don't," Danny replied. "I'd rather just be able to come to dinner and have you feed me for free."

"I'm not opening a bakery," Scott said. "I'm perfectly happy with my current job." He shot a quick glance at Ashika, and she nodded.

"You could open a bakery without quitting it," Danny suggested.

"Lobbyist by day, bakery-owner by night." Matt was grinning. "Sounds a lot like a superhero to me."

"Almost as awesome a superhero as Aquaman," Danny muttered.

"You're just jealous of my powers," Scott said.

"Danny has powers of his own." Given Matt's tone of voice, there was no way to take that as anything but innuendo. Ashika glanced at Matt to find him grinning at her, while Scott choked on the sip of wine he'd been taking. Danny was blushing, but he didn't look surprised or annoyed.

"Would anyone like more wine?" Ashika lifted the bottle, still half full. She poured Scott more, but everyone else shook their heads.

* * *

"Now can I say thank you?" Scott asked. Danny and Matt had left, and Scott and Ashika were seated on the couch as the dishes soaked.

Ashika laughed. "You think that was me behaving myself?"

"I know it wasn't, but I somehow don't think behaving yourself works well with Matt."

"It doesn't."

"Is he..."

"He's not going to try to break your brother's heart."

"You'll understand if I don't necessarily think that sounds reassuring."

"It wasn't meant to be."

"I see."

Ashika shrugged. "Matt is Matt," she said. "Honestly I think even if he and Danny break up, being with him would be good for Danny. Matt's not prone to actual drama when he can avoid it. As opposed to me."

Scott looked at her. "Aren't you going to ask me to provide reassurances that Danny won't hurt Matt?"

"Not at all. Matt either knows what he's getting into or he's an idiot."

"Harsh," Scott said.

"I'm sure it's the same thing he thinks of me."

"Mmm." It looked like there was something on the tip of Scott's tongue to say, but whatever it was he didn't share. "You have an early day tomorrow, right?" he asked her.

"Yes. Prime Minister's Questions and all that."

"If you want to head to bed now, I'll do the dishes then join you."

"Sounds like a plan," Ashika said.

* * *

Ashika woke on Wednesday with a feeling of anticipation. It was still weird to think that she would be one of the people in the chamber during Prime Minister's Questions, not watching the BBC broadcast from an office.

She had gone to prayers at the chamber because she thought it good to have an idea what they were like, and because it was the only way to guarantee her seat for the main events of the day. Although Prime Minister's Question time was, as most people recognised, mostly a media circus, these particular PMQs would answer some questions about the coalition and signal the way things had changed in a way that the Queen's Speech didn't manage.

Prayers weren't unpleasant, but they were carefully choreographed and she wasn't entirely sure whether she thought them pleasant. The seat she had had saved for her wasn't wonderful, but she didn't need it to be. She had enough space and she was visible to the cameras every now and again. Her desire to be visible wasn't vanity so much as the desire to have her constituents be able to find her. Plus, given how much the papers complained that politics were still dominated by old white men, Ashika thought it was possible her visual presence would make someone feel a little more represented, that the fact that she was a member of a minority wasn't the same thing as not existing.

* * *

"How do my files look?" Ashika peered over Matt's shoulder at his partial organisation process.

"Absolutely awful," he said. "Maybe if you spent more time working and less time at dinner parties with your friends, you'd get more done. Like this, for instance. Why would you file business concerns _alphabetically_? Clearly they should be laid out geographically on a model of your constituency grounds."

Ashika did the more dignified facial expression equivalent of sticking her tongue out at him. "I don't see how I ever managed without you."

Matt frowned at her. "Keep up that mush and I'll relocate."

"I'd like to see you try. I have so much blackmail material on you."

He laughed. "Fortunately for you, I'm an altruist. I'll stay because you need me."

"What a kind soul you have."

"The better to infiltrate your office with."

"I've a meeting with a constituent in fifteen minutes. Think I could get you to bring us some coffee?"

"You've been an MP less than a month and you've already forgotten how to use a coffee machine? I despair for the future," Matt said.

"Very funny."

"I thought so. Sure, I'll make you coffee so you don't have to be responsible for accidently burning half this wing down. It's such a lovely office, it would be a pity to lose it."

Ashika could no longer keep a straight face. "While making coffee?"

"You'd be surprised what MPs are capable of," Matt replied.

* * *

"I'd be happy to look into what legislation has been proposed, as well as the past debates," Ashika promised. They were talking about the NHS, and the constituent, Laurie Tieling, was presenting a petition.

Laurie Tieling nodded. "I do appreciate that. But can't you, I don't know, propose legislation yourself?"

"I can," Ashika said. "And I'd be happy to do so if that's what seems necessary. But I'd feel most comfortable if I could first look at what the previous discussion has been. I'm new here, and there's a lot of past legislation to deal with." Neither of those was a lie, but Ashika also wasn't unfamiliar with the concern Ms. Tieling had. She was fairly sure, in fact, that it had been addressed before, but when she'd tried suggesting that Ms. Tieling had become prickly and offended. Ashika had the impression that she had been a Labour voter who did actually vote for Ashika in the election, and was trying to reassure herself that she'd made the right choice.

Matt interrupted to bring in coffee, and Ashika smiled at him. "This is my researcher," she introduced. "Matt, Ms. Tieling. He's going to be the one looking into the background that we've been talking about."

Matt shot her an unreadable look, and Ashika willed him to smile at the constituent, which he did, then left.

Ashika resumed talking to the constituent, who seemed somewhat reassured by both the idea that Ashika was taking this seriously - which Ashika would if she wasn't already sure that there wasn't really an issue here - and by the coffee.

* * *

On Wednesday Ashika only had time for a short dinner, and she worked late enough that the building actually seemed quiet by the time she left.

Matt had left her around six, pointing out that just because she was intent on driving herself crazy with this didn't mean he had to. It was definitely a valid point.

She headed home around ten. Scott just shook his head when she arrived home. "You keep Matt working that long too?"

"Of course not."

"Did you know what an MP's official job description is? Because I looked it up today."

"Scott."

"That's a no? Good, because it appears that there isn't really one. That seems pretty vague to me, and I certainly don't see anything in there about eighty hour weeks."

"Scott."

"Right, of course. It's not that I don't understand how important this is to you, it's just that I want you to take care of yourself as well. It won't do your constituents, or your party, any good if you run yourself into the ground."

Ashika hugged him. "I've no intention of over-working myself. It's just for this week, promise. But thank you."

"Thank you?"

"For keeping me sane."

"I'm so glad not to just be a nice arm ornament."

"Speaking of which," Ashika said, "Do you want to accompany me to the constituency this weekend? I'm going to head up Thursday night, but if you have to be at work on Friday you could join me that evening or Saturday."

"I'd love to. Particularly if you're doing another restaurant opening this weekend."

Ashika laughed.

* * *

Ashika met Jenny for the interview Thursday morning. It was mostly about how they got on as single women in politics, rather than the actual nature of politics, which was disappointing.

"Do you find that being an MP makes it harder for you to date, given your need for positive publicity?"

Jenny shot Ashika a look that meant the other MP had been taking this question for five more years than Ashika had. Ashika conceded that point, though she wondered if the interviewer was familiar with the scandal that had been Ashika and James. Most of the listeners probably didn't, given that it had been two years. Ashika would forever be grateful for the short memory people had. "I can't say it's been a concern. I've been dating Scott for almost two years now, which certainly predates my career as an MP."

"Have you been feeling any pressure to marry?"

"You mean other than from my parents?" Ashika wasn't close enough to her father to accept pressure on aspects of her personal life, but he wouldn't contradict her. He wouldn't be listening to this radio show. If he could have completely ignored the fact that she was a Tory, he would. As it was, he gave a good faith effort at doing so. "No."

"Do you anticipate any such pressure?"

Jenny shot Ashika a look loaded with sympathy. "Any discussions about marriage will take place solely between Scott and myself," Ashika replied calmly.

"Jenny, you've been in parliament for five years now. When you were elected in 2005 could you have imagined you'd be working with the Conservatives as you are now?"

"To be honest, when I was elected _this_ year I didn't think a coalition could work as well as I'm now convinced it will."

"Do you still have your doubts?"

Now it was Ashika's turn to pity Jenny, because that wasn't the kind of question anyone could really say no to, but a yes would be warped into something she didn't mean. "I'm confident the coalition will succeed," Jenny said, because it was what was expected of her.

* * *

For the most part, Ashika enjoyed being canvassed by candidates for the leadership of various select committees. After the babble of the election it was rather nice to have people asking her for _her_ vote. In addition, for these votes at least, lots of people could make suggestions about the vote she should make, but none of them were the Chief Whip.

There were certain areas of select committee canvassing she didn't care for at all, and right now one of them was looking at her in the eyes. "James." Ashika resisted the urge to draw attention to her badge that declared her an MP, same as he was, by straightening it.

"Ashika! Congratulations on your election."

"Thank you."

"Did you get my e-mail?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I'll be supporting Bernard Jenkin." Ashika refused to feel guilty at how disappointed James looked. If he was this desperate to get enough nominations, he would never have the necessary votes. And she didn't really want to remind people of the connection between them.

"Dammit Ashika," he muttered, not loudly enough for anyone else in the corridor to come close to hearing.

"Tip for the future," she said, doing him the same courtesy of a lowered voice, "swearing at people tends not to win them over to your side."

* * *

Ashika did the necessary work for supporting Bernard Jenkin, more because she knew it would annoy James than because Bernard needed the additional nomination. She did believe him the best option of the names that were putting themselves forward for leading the Committee on Public Administration, and it gave her a sense of completion to have that taken care of.

The website for claiming expenses crashed on her the first couple times she tried to set it up to take care of the travel. Ashika was about to give up in frustration and forget about being reimbursed for the train ticket to her constituency when it finally went through . Pending review, she was now in line to be reimbursed.

* * *

She arrived in Keighley twenty minutes late, but there was still a member of her staff office waiting at the station to take her to the constituency office. There was something about being in the constituency office that always evoked a feeling similar to when she had been campaigning in the by-election than anything else, particularly in the way that people seemed to want things out of her.

"Are you going to make your maiden speech soon?" one of the staffers, by the name of Jeremy, asked, and Ashika supposed that was the difference; she was being asked rather than instructed. "It would really help to be able to print excerpts from it in a newsletter to go out to the constituency."

"The plan is Tuesday. I've written up much of the speech already. I'll take out any salient quotes and send them to you, after I give the speech."

"If you want to hand me an early draft now, I could run up a draft of the newsletter," Jeremy offered. He was clearly an intern, or newly graduated, and she could see his enthusiasm in the way he glanced around the office. She wanted to encourage that enthusiasm, even if she didn't approve of the current suggestion it had led to.

"I'd rather not," Ashika said. "Too high a risk of me modifying the speech on the fly and dropping whatever quote you choose. Now, should I be delegating more work to you, if you have time to make mock ups of newsletters that might not get used?"

He sighed, but if Ashika were the betting kind she would bet that Jeremy had actually been bored in the last week or so. "Sure. What do you have for me?"

"Want to design a new look for my website? It needs to look less like I'm campaigning, and more like I'm running a constituency."

"Yeah, sure. I mean, I'd love to." He frowned, and it was the kind of frown the people who couldn't find many reasons not to smile wore. "You really mean that? I don't really have any website experience. Well, I took a class once."

Ashika shrugged. "Show me what you can do," she said. "If it's good I'll put it up, and I won't if it's bad. So try to avoid things like yellow text on a blue background."

"But it would symbolize the new coalition so well." He paused, then looked suddenly aghast at himself, like he couldn't believe he'd just joked with an actual Member of Parliament. Ashika could see the capital letters in the way he looked at her.

"I'll be judging the website based on the website, not your accompanying essay." She quirked a grin at him, and got half a smile back.

* * *

"Tell me you didn't _just_ leave the constituency office," Scott told her over the phone. Ashika was calling him from the parking lot of the office so strictly speaking she hadn't actually left yet.

"Right," Ashika said. "I'm actually pulling out of my secret lover's driveway now."

"Damn. Guess this means I have to call off the wedding plans."

"You heard that? There is a reason you're not supposed to listen to my radio interviews." Ashika had told him that back when she first started campaigning.

"But I learn so much. Seriously, though, are you even...Do you think it would be a good idea if we-"

Ashika set her mobile to speakerphone and set it down on the car seat next to her. She then stuck her fingers in her ears. "La la la," she said. "I am not having this conversation over the phone."

"We can have it when I come up tomorrow, then. Unless, Ashika? If you don't want to talk about it, we really don't have to. But I suspect this morning will not be the last time, and it seems like a good idea to clear things up. Because right now, I don't feel things are very clear."

"You're right. They're not. And we should fix that. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes. Love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

Ashika thought it would be so easy to fall in love with her constituency office, if she had the time. It had loads of nice windows, which gave the office a lovely, airy feel, and the staff were much more sure of themselves than anyone in Westminster was. Her chief staffer, in fact, made a point of making sure Ashika ate enough of a lunch and arranged her schedule so she would finish up and go home plenty early. "You're mothering me," Ashika said.

"Nonsense," Rachel replied. "I'm nowhere near old enough to be your mother, thank you very much. It's just that it's almost as important that people see you eating at restaurants and buying your groceries in local markets as it is that you schedule surgeries and answer their letters in a timely manner. So no, I don't want you to just go home, make yourself a nice cup of tea and turn in early. Though if you want to," Rachel shrugged, "It's your life."

"When I'm in the constituency I'm always working, no matter what I'm actually doing."

"Care to try saying it like you mean it?"

"I can work just as effectively in the constituency, even if I'm not actually doing work."

"Right."

* * *

Ashika cleared a spot in her schedule to go to the train station to pick Scott up. Far from looking approving, Rachel frowned at her when she said that was what she was doing.

"I'd just be careful about how much you attach yourself to your boyfriend."

"I'm not attaching myself to him. He's attaching himself to me."

Rachel murmured something about that not being the way some of her constituents would see it but Ashika considered the conversation over.

* * *

"How was the train journey?" she asked, after a brief greeting kiss.

"Train-like?" Scott suggested. "So I get that you have to take the train as part of the whole MP image thing. And I also shouldn't drive up, because I'm also part of your image thing. But if that's the case, shouldn't you be able to claim my train fare?"

Ashika rubbed at her eyes with her right hand. "Technically, yes. Realistically, it's a logistical nightmare right now just claiming for my own train fare. But I can pay for the ticket myself, if you want."

"No. I was totally just joking about the claiming. Where are we headed next? Back to your office?"

"That's the plan. Unless you'd rather just elope?"

Scott snorted. "That's one way to avoid the media circus. And by avoid I mean 'bring it on ourselves'."

Ashika laughed. "The office it is."

* * *

Despite her stated unease with him, Rachel didn't seem terribly wary of Scott.

"He's a Labour man at heart," Ashika said. They stood in her office, just Ashika, Rachel and Scott. "Don't trust him."

Scott had the best put-upon sigh of anyone Ashika knew. "Is that any way to speak to your fiancé?" he asked.

Ashika picked up the nearest stack of leftover campaign leaflets and threw them at him. "You're not my fiancé," she said. "And you never will be if you keep this up." She could just tell he was going to look all mock-disappointed at him, so she didn't give him that opportunity. "I generally prefer to get involved with people with more emotional maturity than a five-year old."

"So much for my plans to propose in the playground, with a plastic ring." He was joking, but Ashika thought there was something more to his tone, like maybe he was actually thinking of proposing to her. They definitely needed to talk that evening.

* * *

"I voted Conservative in the election," Scott told her over dinner, and Ashika couldn't think of anything better to do than to stare at him in shock.

"I had no idea."

Scott shrugged and twirled his salad fork. "I didn't want you to think it was because of you."

Ashika considered that. "Was it?"

"At least partly. And partly because I feel like the best thing for Labour is to have a year or two out of power to regroup."

"They'll get at least five."

"Maybe."

"Danny know you voted Conservative?" Ashika shook her head, answering her own question. "Of course he doesn't."

"Actually, he does."

"That must have been quite the conversation."

Scott laughed. "He was so angry with me. Accused me of letting my dick overrule my head."

Ashika considered Scott for a moment. "It'd have to be your heart, wouldn't it, if anything? After all, I was perfectly willing to sleep with you when you were leading the campaign against me. Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I truly do want to spend the rest of my life with you. And I guess that that seemed like the kind of thing you should know. Did you want my croutons?" He'd returned to avoiding eye contact by playing with his salad.

"No thanks. Scott, I don't even...are you proposing to me?"

"No. I don't think public proposals are any fair; they put so much pressure on the person being proposed to." He looked up at her. "But I would, in an instant, if I thought you would say yes."

Ashika might not know what she was doing, but that was rather the norm for her these days. It had never before stopped her from rushing forward. "Yes."

"I. I don't actually have a ring for you. Yet."

"Oh, in that case you're clearly not the man I thought you were." Ashika shook her head. "You can buy one here, support local businesses."

"You want a proposal in the middle of the town too?" Scott's grin was extra-large, as if Ashika couldn't have told he was kidding by the tone of his voice alone.

"I was thinking in the middle of the grocery store, actually. For maximum publicity." Ashika tried to make her voice sound like she was saying _you idiot_ but she thought it likely that it was coming out as _you lovable idiot_. Which maybe wasn't such a problem.

* * *

Ashika stared at her mobile. Fortunately for her sanity it didn't stare back at her, but the time display did shift over to 22:00.

Her dad would probably be asleep by now, and Nikash would be at work at the club he owned. Which left Sarayu, who would be the least happy about her news. If Ashika was lucky she'd get off with a half hour lecture on marriage as a harmful, oppressive institution.

Ashika wasn't sure if she was relieved or not when she was put through to her sister's voicemail. "This is Sara, please leave a message and maybe I'll get back to you." Ashika just hoped that Sarayu hadn't just chosen to ignore her call. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened.

"Hey Sarayu. It's Ashika. Listen I'd actually really like to talk to you, so if you could call me back when you get a chance it would kind of mean a lot. Thanks." Ashika didn't leave any declarations of love because she and Sarayu really didn't get on very well. If not for the circumstances of birth they might be happy never speaking to each other. As it was they talked maybe once every third month.

Sarayu called her back almost immediately, and Ashika almost missed answering the call because she was so surprised. "Sorry, I was using the toilet," Sarayu said. "I must have just missed you. What's up?"

"Scott asked me to marry him. Or, rather. Not formally, but he's going to. I said yes." Ashika thought that was all the relevant details covered.

"Scott?" Sarayu asked.

Ashika frowned. "My boyfriend? The one I've been dating for the last three years?" She kind of thought that if Ashika could keep up with Sarayu's phone number, which seemed to change at least twice a year for reasons Ashika didn't remotely understand, then Sarayu should be able to remember Scott's name.

"Right, sorry. Why are you getting married? Is this because of that interview this morning?"

It definitely wasn't about that, it was about them finally deciding to tie the knot because it was time. "How do you even know about that?"

Ashika could picture Sarayu's hand-wave. "You're always doing some kind of interview, and marriage was bound to come up at some point. But seriously, Ashika? That's a pretty crap reason to get married."

"That's not why we're doing it. I was just surprised. And I thought you think that they're all crap reasons."

"They are. But that one's more crap than most."

"That's fine, it can be a crap reason," Ashika said. "It's not actually why we're going to be engaged in a matter of days. You could at least be happy for me?"

"You mean like the way I was happy your Party won the election? You really _don't_ get it sometimes, Ashika, do you?"

"I know that I can feel your disapproval from here. Which I happen to be finding hilarious so please, continue."

"If you want my approval, you're not going to get it. But then, I don't think that's want you want. And you're not actually the gloating kind, which means you genuinely just want to inform me of your good turn. But here's the thing. I'm pretty sure, whether you're aware of it or not, that more than half the reason Scott proposed to you, or told you he planned to propose, is that he's feeling some societal burden to 'make an honest woman out of you'. Even if it wasn't political, though I think it might well be because _you_ can't actually do anything apolitically anymore, he still felt pressure."

"Sara, I feel societal pressure to brush my teeth in the morning. That isn't reason enough for me not to do it."

"On its own it wouldn't be reason enough _for_ you to do it either."

"But it's _not_ the only reason we're discussing getting married. We're going to get married primarily because I love him, and he loves me back. I can't imagine living without him."

Sarayu snorted. "Yeah, 'cause that's healthy. It's that kind of thinking that's at the root of marriage. Mutual reliance with another individual isn't actually that healthy; it just makes it more likely that you'll both fall."

Ashika tuned out. She'd was pretty sure she'd heard this lecture before, when she was trying to set her father up with the mother of one of her friends. She had been twelve at the time; Sarayu had been sixteen.

"You have to let me tell Nikash and Dad," Ashika said, when Sarayu seemed to be wrapping up.

"Whatever. It's not like I'm talking to Dad at the moment."

"Why? What happened?"

"Don't worry about it. Go off and do whatever with your almost-fiancé. You two can practice being a boring married couple."

Ashika was pretty sure she was meant to press Sarayu for an explanation, but she was a little tired of having to interpret half-hints, plus she was actually tired. "Get nine hours of sleep," Ashika said. "Doesn't that just sound lovely?"

"You can't tempt me," Sarayu muttered, then abruptly cut the line.

* * *

"How's your family?" Scott asked when she climbed into bed with him.

"I just talked to my sister. She's...not exactly happy, but she's more okay about it than I thought she would be. You talk to Danny?"

"And my mum. They both offered their congratulations."

Ashika set her head on Scott's shoulder. "You sure you don't want to just elope?" she asked. "It looks so much easier." She rolled off him a little so she could make eye contact. "You do want to get married, right? This isn't you saying you're going to propose because you think that will be nice or convenient, or aid my career and it's easier just to go along with that?"

"How would that be easier?" Scott asked, which was a very good question, and not one she had an answer to.

"I had to ask."

"Yeah. Okay. You've asked. Mark that one off our list."

"When are you actually going to propose to me?"

"Don't you think it should be a surprise?"

Ashika considered it. "No, not unless you want me asking you this every single night between now and when you do it."

"In that case, does Thursday work for you?"

"I suppose I can clear a spot in my schedule for it."

"We're supposed to have lunch together anyway."

"There is that, yes."

* * *

The surgery was set to begin a whole half hour from when Ashika actually got there, so the first thing she did was find Rachel. "Do you actually need me right now?" Ashika asked, "or do you simply need me not to wander off?"

"Not wandering off is fine."

"Great. I have to make a phone call. I don't think it will take more than ten minutes, but feel free to come get me if I'm not back and you want me to be."

"If you go outside, you can probably get the most privacy at the back of the church."

"Thank you."

Rachel smiled. "It'll help me keep track of you."

Ashika nodded and headed for the spot Rachel had recommended. She would have to call her dad now, for two reasons. The first was that her brother wouldn't be awake yet, and the second was that she could trust her father not to tell Nikash until she had told him herself, but she couldn't trust Nikash not to tell her father.

He answered the phone on the second ring. "Hey Dad, it's me," she said.

"Ashika!" He sounded absolutely delighted, though Ashika couldn't help but wonder if that was just because he was fighting with Sarayu again. Even if that was the case, Ashika decided she was grateful. "How are you?"

"I'm pretty good."

"And how's Scott?"

"Scott's wonderful. Actually, he asked me to marry him. I said yes."

"Isn't he supposed to talk to me about that first?"

" _Dad!_ "

"I'm joking," he said. Ashika was pretty sure he hadn't been, but that he'd learned that saying he was was a good way to not have to retract what he said. "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"Do you know when-"

"We haven't talked dates yet."

"Let me know when you do, so I can make sure I keep it clear."

"Of course."

"And Ashika? I am so proud of you." Ashika was sure he'd said that because he could take pride in her personal life, at least, even if her professional life was another story.

"Thanks Dad. I have to go now."

"Of course. Love you."

"Love you."

* * *

What Ashika got out of the surgery was the strong sense that her constituents, or at least those that had chosen to attend, already had a pretty good idea of who _she_ was. Which was great, it was fantastic, but she didn't know who they were yet.

She was, however, getting a better sense of their priorities outside of the election, and she knew now that their priorities during the election had been markedly different. The fact that she had been voted in was enough to buy her some confidence in and of itself. She introduced herself as their MP, and there was a certain amount of trust she got just for saying that.

Ashika took the time to talk to some teenaged students who explained to her that they were only attending as some sort of class activity.

"Why did you want to be an MP?" one of the girls asked.

Ashika figured that now, when was she was _excited_ about being an MP, was the time to talk about her feelings. It would be a shame not to use the opportunity to make politics seem a little less dull and remote than everyone seemed to think they were. "I worked in Wesminster for a while in the office of an MP. It was both a logical progression and a chance to start doing more for the community." As far as answers went, Ashika was aware that hers was a little dull. It did, however, have the advantage of being true.

Ashika talked to the students for a good ten minutes, and when she was done they acted a little less like it was a chore to have to be there.

* * *

When Ashika wrapped up the surgery and turned her phone off of silent she noticed that she had a missed call and a text from Nikash waiting. Ashika frowned at the words, "Call me", and wondered which member of her family had broken their promise to her to tell him. Her money was on Sarayu, but Dad could have had it accidentally slip out too. There were times her family was the best at annoying her.

"Nikash," she said when he picked up. "It's Ashika."

"Hey. How are you?"

"Pretty good. How are you coping with finding out that we're not the political opposites you always thought we were?"

Ashika could pretty much hear her proudly Liberal Democrat brother stick his tongue out at the phone. "I wallow in despair every morning."

"Yeah, thought so." It had occurred to Ashika while she was putting in his number that it was possible, even if unlikely, that Nikash had wanted to talk to her for some unrelated reason. "So, what's up?"

"You're getting married, I hear." It was with good reason that Ashika hadn't exactly placed her hopes in Nikash just wanting to talk to her.

"I wanted to tell you myself." She was aware of the fact that she sounded a little petulant, but she would only have the opportunity to tell her family that she was getting married once. It wasn't really fair for people to ruin that for her.

"You were planning to tell me then. I'm glad."

"Nikash! Of course I was. I know we're not close, but _I_ never wanted to shut _you_ out of my life."

"Yeah, sure. Let me know when you pick a date, and I'll try to be there."

Ashika sighed in frustration when she heard his end of things go silent. She was pretty sure no one besides her brother could possibly accuse her of shutting him out, when he was the one that always ended their conversations before they ever said anything of real importance.

* * *

Ashika always found being in the constituency emotionally exhausting in a way that Westminster wasn't, and the fact that she'd had to speak to all three of her family members in a twenty-four hour time period hadn't really helped matters.

So she supposed it wasn't fair of her to expect to have remembered everything. Still, she felt like she'd have rather been on the phone with her best friend than with her sister, which was why when Scott said, "I asked Danny not to tell Matt yet; I figured you'd want to," she just stared at him for a couple of minutes.

" _Matt_ ," she said. "Yes, thank you. I do. I'll just take care of that now."

Scott didn't let her leave and find something to bang her head against. Instead he stepped forward to wrap his arms around her. "You're under a lot of stress," he murmured into her ear. "I'm really sorry if I've added to that."

"It's not you," Ashika said, before she realised how that sounded. "What I meant to say is that my family really doesn't get me sometimes. Oh, and don't be surprised if my sister calls you up to rant against the patriarchy."

Scott blinked at her.

"It's not like I gave her your number," Ashika said. "But Sara would hardly let that stop her."

"I see."

"I'm going to call Matt now."

"Have fun."

Ashika hoped her grin looked sufficiently evil. "I will. You're sure Danny wouldn't have told him, right?"

"On pain of death."

"Excellent."

* * *

Ashika sent Matt a text that said, "How is London weather?" and wasn't surprised when he called her soon after.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Matt said, trusting her to check who was calling before answering, which would make introducing himself redundant.

"Yes. Because London weather is hilarious."

"What's up?"

"Another joke. I'm getting married."

Ashika would love to be able to see Matt's face right now, because he sounded really thrown. "What? Since when? To Scott?"

"No, to James." Ashika was very proud of herself for pulling off deadpan with that particular statement. She didn't even ruin the awkward silence with a laugh.

"Ashika?"

"Yes?"

"You're joking with me, right?"

"About the James thing, yes. But Scott and I did talk. About marriage."

"That's...Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"Seriously. Congratulations. You shouldn't have told me this over the phone. That kind of news is the kind best greeted by a hug."

"I didn't want to make you wait."

"Plus, Danny knows already, right?"

Ashika was feeling very guilty for not telling Matt as soon as she had a chance. "Yeah."

"Good. Because I don't think I could resist blurting that out next time I saw him. How are you?"

"Really happy."

"Good."

"Yes."

"I'll let you go now."

"Bye Matt."

* * *

"I'd actually like the chance to actually propose to you," Scott said Sunday morning.

Ashika grinned at him. "And I'd like you to have a ring when you do it."

He reached into his pocket, and Ashika would regret having given him the perfect opportunity if she weren't really curious. "Will this do?" He flipped open the case.

Ashika looked at it. It lacked any gems, which Ashika thought was for the best because adding any gems to the intertwined gold and what was either white gold or silver would have made the ring look tacky, instead of just beautiful.

"Ashika Chandiramani, will you marry me?" Scott looked more nervous than she'd expect, given that she'd already said yes.

"Yes," she repeated.

He stood and kissed her, then she took the ring and put it on her finger. "It's gorgeous," she said.

Scott shrugged, like he always did when he was going to be cheesy but didn't care. "Well, so are you."

* * *

Ashika wore her engagement ring to work on Monday, and it wasn't actually a big deal at all to anyone who wasn't Matt. To be honest, it didn't seem like that much of a big deal to Matt either, but he had at least _noticed_.

"You think I should find a reason to walk by James' office?" Ashika asked.

Matt laughed. "Definitely not. But you can think about doing it, just for comedic effect. Though I hate to break it to you, but he's probably heard already."

"You have much greater faith in the abilities of MPs to gossip than I do," Ashika said.

"I don't know whether to call your own lack naiveté or optimism. You changing your last name?"

Ashika ignored the fact that it was a complete non sequitur, because it wasn't like that was a particularly hard question to answer. "Nope."

"Good. Here's your schedule for the day. Notice how I conveniently didn't leave you any time for lurking outside the offices of other MPs."

"Spoilsport."

* * *

For the most part it wasn't even like Ashika wanted to wave her engagement ring in the faces of her colleagues. In fact, she mostly just wanted to focus on her job. It was fun, but it wasn't the kind of thing that left her excess emotional energy to worry about issues not related to representing her constituency or party politics.

Ashika suspected that it was this fact which had allowed her to carry on an affair with James; the pressures of the job brought people together just as often as they forced others apart. Ashika had figured that she'd pretty much lost her family to politics, so she might as well gain a lover.

It had been foolish, to be sure, but Ashika knew better now. She wasn't sure what James' excuse was, but she had the impression that he'd managed to fool himself into thinking he actually cared about her.

* * *

"When did constituents get so boring?" Ashika asked Matt.

He laughed, and she smiled back.

"You know that if you do end up hiring an intern, you're just going to end up terrifying her, right? She won't get your sense of humour at all."

"Can't we screen for that sort of thing?"

"No, but don't worry about it. Interns work best when terrified."

Ashika frowned and watched for when Matt noticed that she had turned serious again. "Do you really think I need an intern?"

"I think that you're already overworking yourself, and that most of your work hasn't even begun yet. I think that you're given enough money to run the office and hire me and an intern, assuming you go the paid route. I think you could certainly manage without one, but I don't really see any advantage to doing so."

"Why do you have to be so right all the time?"

"It's what you pay me for. That and my witty charm."

* * *

"Hi honey, I'm home," Ashika called when she got to the apartment she shared with Scott in London. She hoped he was actually home as well; it would be a disappointment if she'd left when there was still work that could be done only to find that he'd made other plans. That was the risk of wanting to surprise him, though.

She was pleased when he joined her in the entryway, grinning even more than she had anticipated. "Ashika? There's still daylight outside."

"Is that what that bright light is? I'd wondered."

"When do you have to get back to the office?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Oh."

"Oh? Is that all?"

"Of course not." She'd been expecting some kind of passionate greeting, but she was still a little surprised at the desire in his kiss at first.

When she withdrew to catch her breath she murmured, "Planning on making the best of the rest of the day?"

"Any reason I shouldn't?"

"Absolutely not."

* * *

Ashika was pretty surprised when the first thing Jenny noticed when they got together for lunch on Tuesday was Ashika's engagement ring. Jenny didn't ask about it, just let her eyes flick over the ring then back up to Ashika's face.

"Scott asked on Sunday," Ashika said. "Well, he actually asked Friday night, I said yes, then he asked again on Sunday."

Jenny laughed lightly. "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

Jenny, to her credit, didn't ask whether Ashika was sure or for details on the proposal. She just shot Ashika another grin, then proceeded to go over how she'd found being an MP to be a completely different beast than being a researcher. While Ashika knew some of the details already, she still found the customized advice quite useful.

"I guess the main difference between where we started is that I was mostly running because I'd been asked. I wanted to win, of course, but I didn't particularly expect to. Lib Dem seats have always seemed more volatile to me."

"As your MP learned."

"Yes. I can't help but feel bad for him."

"Well, I'm glad you kept your seat in the last election."

Jenny smiled as she took a bite of the salad that had just arrived. "That's just because otherwise it might have swung Labour."

Ashika laughed. "You're on to me now."

* * *

Ashika had been reassured by Jenny that Hansard would put the formalities in her speech if she left any out. It wasn't something Ashika thought she'd need, but it helped to feel she had a safety net of sorts.

It wasn't particularly easy to catch the speaker's eye, not with all the other MPs trying to make _their_ maiden speeches, but Ashika managed it. Some of the older MPs had indicated that the Speaker rewarded those backbenchers who had a more regular presence in the chamber, which seemed like reason enough to be present when she could be.

Ashika started the speech softly, letting the microphones do most of the work until she was sure that she was comfortable raising her voice more. Her speech did what maiden speeches were supposed to do: it confirmed that she hadn't forgotten her campaign promises just yet, it paid tribute to her Labour predecessor, it was her formal introduction as a Member of Parliament and, since she was a member of government, it affirmed her commitment as a government backbencher.

Ashika was glad she'd written numerous speeches for sitting MPs in the past, because it meant she could recognise this speech as a fluff one and manage without much insecurity about how it didn't actually seem to have much by way of content. The speech went smoothly, without her accidentally stating opposition to the Queen's Speech or any other unlikely disasters, and Ashika stayed to hear a number of other maiden speeches prior to retreating to her office to send the transcript to her constituency office.

As soon as she entered the office, though, Matt stood and applauded her. "It's weird to do that when you're the only one around," Ashika said.

"I hadn't noticed," he remarked dryly. "Seriously though, Ashika, well done. I've never heard a better maiden speech."

"Sure," Ashika muttered. "That's only because you aren't bothered to listen to any others."

"Because I knew they wouldn't hold a candle to yours."

"Do you actually do any useful work in here?" Ashika asked. "Or do you just sit around all day thinking up clever things to say to annoy me?"

"Definitely the latter."

* * *

"It feels like I'm a real MP now," Ashika told Scott that evening.

"You've always been a real MP," Scott told her.

"Yeah, even when I was five and wanted to grow up and be a firefighter? I don't think so."

Scott laughed. "I'm trying to picture you as a firefighter now."

Ashika couldn't really fault him for his amusement when she'd brought up the example mostly to make him laugh. "I'm sure my Dad has pictures."

"Amusing as this diversion was, when I said you'd always been a real MP I wasn't actually referring to your childhood dreams. But you've certainly never been a fake MP."

There were times she felt fake, but she didn't verbally disagree. "Yeah, I guess. How was your day?"

"Pretty good. Apart from being inherently dissatisfying and failing to give me any sense of purpose."

"You could always be a firefighter," Ashika suggested. "Or any other number of things."

"Yup, I know. Or I could leave my current job and be a lobbyist for a non-profit."

"Yeah?"

"I've been investigating possibilities. I'm pretty sure it might suck all the glamour out of non-profits for me in the end, but it might also wind up being fairly meaningful."

"I hope for the latter."

"Me too."

* * *

There were times that Ashika looked at her life and couldn't believe some of the mistakes she'd made, some of the chances she'd had and thrown away or some of the ways life had managed to surprise her.

For the most part, though, Ashika was damn proud of what she'd done _right_. She hadn't managed to mess anything up permanently, not her career and not her relationship with Scott.

The best part about looking back at her mistakes and thinking _how could I have ever thought that would be a good idea_ was that she knew there wasn't planning on repeating them. She'd had one talk with the whip about Party Values. While it had been beyond awkward, he hadn't said anything she didn't agree with.

Ashika knew the boundaries of proper behaviour of MPs and having had the experience of being at the heart of one scandal she had no interest in starting another.

* * *

Ashika supposed that she shouldn't have been surprised that her sister decided that since Ashika was an MP, her being engaged was enough of a story to talk to some random paper.

It didn't really annoy Ashika, who was intent neither on hiding her engagement nor making a media circus out of it. She was actually, when she had time to think about it, amused that Sarayu thought Ashika to be such a celebrity that anyone would care.

She wasn't, but the paper ran some kind of story anyway. The only effect _that_ had on _Ashika_ was an increase in letters from her constituents giving her their congratulations. And James decided to drop by.

Matt was gone; he'd said that he was going to research "something" in the library. Ashika still hadn't figured out a way to tell him that she knew what he meant when he said that. It wasn't exactly subtle, but she wondered if he still thought she was fooled.

James did drop by, but Ashika remembered to keep the conversation with him free of any pointed remarks. Ashika thought he probably just meant to show that he had moved on or something, but there wasn't really a way to decide to just be friends with a man when he was married and she'd known it when she'd chosen to be involved with him.

She wasn't sure if James recognised that and was just acknowledging the fact that they had to work together and thought this would make it less awkward or if he was just a bit oblivious.

"Ashika," he said, entering her office.

Ashika looked up, a little startled. "James. Hey." Ashika had no idea why she'd ever thought social awkwardness would end after university.

"Congratulations on your engagement."

This was definitely more awkward than anything that had happened in uni. "Thanks."

James shrugged, in what was his first admittance of the discomfort of the situation. "Oh, and well done on the maiden speech. You were ready for this."

Ashika nodded and smiled, and James left.

* * *

The first message Ashika saw when she checked her phone was what she was sure would have been an angry text from her sister, if Sarayu hadn't run out of characters in the middle of listing the dictionary definition of marriage. Ashika was momentarily curious as to which dictionary Sarayu had used, until she reminded herself that that wasn't really something worth caring about.

Ashika decided she may as well respond now, before she forgot entirely and Sarayu decided to continue the message. With Ashika's luck Sarayu was looking at the Oxford English Dictionary or something else that gave etymology. Ashika didn't actually have unlimited texts, and she preferred to use the ones that were included for talking to Scott or updating her twitter.

Having thought about it a bit, Ashika sent an e-mail from her personal account instead of a text. "Remember when you were five and Ben proposed to you in the playground? Of course you don't, because I just made that up. My point is that Scott and I are both adults. See you at my wedding." Ashika wasn't sure if adding a smiley would make the e-mail less aggressive, if that was even what she wanted, but she thought it would look silly.

She did sign with a "Love, Ashika" because well, that was part of the problem. Ashika could tell exactly why her sister was doing this, she just thought it would be better if Sarayu cared less.

When Ashika had finished that, her phone indicated that it had just received a message from Scott. "I've given Steven my notice," the text read, and that was it.

Ashika really wanted to just call him and find out all the details, but she only had limited time before her next meeting. Instead she sent a "Details? And good for you."

Ashika was frequently forced to wonder whether the instantaneous nature of modern forms of communication actually made talking to people easier or harder, but this wasn't that time. She had seen him only an hour or two ago, when they were both leaving for work, but Ashika somehow thought he'd still been vaguely pondering the possibility at that point.

* * *

"Being an MP isn't everything its cracked up to be," Ashika told Matt.

"Yeah, you're just telling me that so I won't be jealous and murder you in your sleep," Matt replied. Perhaps it hadn't been such a great idea to agree to go out for drinks with him after work, but she hadn't spent enough social time with Matt.

Ashika laughed. "Oh yes, because that's such a threat."

"Also, you're doing it wrong."

Ashika carefully raised a single eyebrow at Matt, just because she knew he wasn't capable of doing that himself.

"You should clearly be more involved in either undermining the party or, I don't know, whatever it is MPs do in novels."

"Have affairs?" Ashika asked dryly. "Or drinking problems?" She took another swig of her beer because she felt it would be beneath her to stick her tongue out at him, and it was really tempting.

"Engage in international spying!" Matt exclaimed.

"How does that even make sense?" Danny said.

Ashika started in surprise. "I don't appreciate people sneaking up on me," she told Danny, then turned her focus on Matt.

Matt shrugged. "Hey, you said that you invited Scott. And he actually suggested that Danny might want to be here."

"Then sit with your back to a wall. Or face a mirror," Danny suggested. It took Ashika a couple of minutes to figure out what context his words would make sense in. "So, how's your contemplated career as a spy going?" There wasn't really a framework for that question.

"Not as well as it could be," Ashika responded. "Considering that I don't speak twelve languages and don't have any particular desire to sell my country's secrets."

"Ah. Good. Now I don't have to report you to Her Majesty."

Ashika had no clue what she could even say to that that was polite, so she didn't bother. "You're a very strange person, Danny."

He seemed pleased enough at the description. "Thanks. So, Scott's joining us?"

"I hope so," Ashika muttered.

Matt turned to her, suddenly concerned. "Did you two fight?"

"What? No, of course not. I just don't know how much of you and Danny's brand of sanity I can take without him here to mitigate the affect."

"Aww," Danny said. "That's so sweet."

Ashika turned to send him a frown. Matt just laughed at her, which didn't really help. Ashika glanced pointedly at her watch. With any luck, Scott should arrive soon and she would be able to talk to him about his day had gone. He'd responded to her text asking for details on the job front with a suggestion that they discuss it in person, which Ashika had agreed to. She hadn't remembered at the time that they had plans with Danny and Matt.

"Earth to Ashika," Matt said.

"Why?" she asked. "Aren't you two capable of making conversation on your own?"

"Conversation?" Matt asked. "What use have we of conversation? Also, Scott's here now."

Ashika lifted a hand in a greeting as Scott took the seat next to her. "How was your day?" he asked her.

"Apart from allegedly almost being reported to Her Majesty for being a spy or something, about as expected?"

Scott frowned at her, so Ashika tilted her head in Danny's direction. "How was yours?" she asked.

"Somewhat different than I'd anticipated."

Ashika figured that if Scott wanted to discuss specifics he would; she just wished she knew if they were just not talking about it _now_ , not talking about it with Danny and Matt around, or just not talking about the fact that he'd quit his job at all.

"My day was pretty interesting," Danny interjected, "What with being the researcher for a fairly high-up Labour MP who hasn't yet declared who she's supporting in the Labour leadership campaign."

"What, Jo hasn't yet decided?" Scott asked.

Danny shrugged. "If she has she's not letting me in on her decision. It's nice though, makes her office quite the happening place."

"Yeah, you're just pleased because it makes it seem like Labour is more important than it actually is," Matt said. Ashika was a little shocked, she couldn't dream of saying such a thing to _Scott_ , and Danny was so much more invested. Especially these days.

Danny just laughed, and he actually sounded amused. "So, Scott, what's your big news? You've got to have big news, or you wouldn't have made us wait for you. Have you and Ashika settled on a date for the wedding, then?"

"No. Definitely not."

"Okay then."

"I'm quitting my job." Since Ashika already knew that she shot a glance at Matt. Her hope was that that would give Danny a virtual moment of privacy with his brother. Danny, however, didn't seem to have anything to say.

"What are you going to do now?" Danny asked eventually, as Ashika polished off her first beer and was contemplating ordering a second.

"One of the non-profit lobbying agencies I sent my resumé out to asked for an interview. It's not really about the salary now, so much as doing work I'd actually enjoy and find meaningful."

Danny tilted his head at Scott, and Matt glanced at Ashika. It occurred to her after a moment that he was trying to check if she was all right with Scott's decision, as if she should have any say in it at all. She smiled at Matt though, because she approved, inasmuch as Scott thought he was making the decision best for him and she wanted that. It was still definitely Scott's decision.

Danny paused long enough that Ashika thought he'd made it pretty obvious that he realised the choice of direction for the rest of the conversation was his. "Good," Danny said eventually.

Scott's eyebrows furrowed. "Good?"

"Right. You know? Maybe now you can feel less guilty about selling your soul for so many years."

"What? Being a lobbyist was never selling my soul." Ashika could tell that this was a discussion they'd had numerous times, so she tuned out, turning instead to Matt, who was looking a little left out.

"I don't know that I actually have anything to say," Ashika said when she noticed that she'd successfully caught Matt's eye. "We talk all the time."

He shrugged at first, then found a smile. "I'm sure we could find things to talk about. But what's the fun of that?"

"What, you want to just enjoy the silence? Of a pub?"

"Something like that." Ashika had no idea what Matt was on about, and he didn't seem particularly concerned with enlightening her.

* * *

"You ready to go?" Scott's discussion with Danny about the relative moral value of the work they both did had somehow dissolved into an argument about whether existentialism made more sense in a theistic framework or in an atheistic one fifteen minutes ago. Ashika thought it was amusing, but she rather missed the times when she'd actually been able to get drunk when she went to a pub.

"Whatever you want," Ashika said, because she was having fun. She was also pretty sure she'd have fun at home too, and she wanted a chance to talk with Scott over the details before he felt like he'd already over-analysed his decision.

"Yeah, let's go," Scott said.

Ashika stood with a nod to Matt and Danny. "See you tomorrow, Matt."

* * *

Epilogue

Ashika was resisting the urge to get really really drunk, because the fact that she was at her wedding overruled the fact that she was with her family. Fortunately for everyone's sake, Matt had volunteered to run interference. Ashika realised that that probably meant she owed him the dedication when she wrote her memoirs or something else that looked equally nice but wouldn't actually require much effort from her.

Ashika turned from the hilarious reality of observing her sister attempt to flirt with Matt to look at Scott. "May I have this dance?" she asked.

He didn't pretend he was ever going to say anything but yes. "It would be my honour."

They rose and walked to the dance floor. There were only a couple of people on the floor. The fact that it would be a small wedding had been the first thing Scott and Ashika had agreed on, and they'd managed to pull it off.

They danced in silence for a while, with Ashika just enjoying the moment. She didn't feel much different now that she was married, but she hadn't expected there to be a single life-changing moment. To be honest, she was quite relieved that it didn't feel like marriage had intrinsically changed her or anything silly like that.

"So, is this better than being sworn in as an MP, or not?"

Ashika grinned at Scott, because he had a talent for cutting to the heart of the matter without actually bringing a blade into it. "It's exactly like that," she said. "It's not a surprise at this point, and in many ways it's a formality that will mean more to other people than it does to me, since I've spent so long anticipating it. And yet, none of that keeps it from being simply wonderful."

"Good," Scott said. "I'm glad."

**Author's Note:**

> I welcome and appreciate comments, including constructive criticism.


End file.
